Wheeled vehicles, such as automobiles and trucks, often include threaded wheel studs protruding from a hub coupled to an axle and configured to allow attachment of a wheel thereto. Usually, the wheel includes openings configured to be aligned with the wheel studs so that the wheel can slide onto the wheel studs and be coupled thereto by lug nuts threaded onto the wheel stud thread. Alternatively, some vehicles have threaded holes for lug bolts.
Typically, a hub will include 5, 6, or 8 wheel studs spaced along the perimeter of a circle centered on the vehicle hub. The openings that are drilled or punched into the wheel to accommodate the wheel studs are sized to fit relatively snugly over the wheel stud to minimize movement of the wheel with respect to the hub and to thereby avoid misalignment of the wheel with respect to the axle. Although the wheel studs stemming from a single hub are generally uniform, the studs or threaded holes may be arranged in different configurations among hubs having the same number of wheel studs. More specifically, depending on the make and model of the vehicle, the distance between the center of the hub and each wheel stud (i.e., the diameter of the circle on which the wheel studs are arranged or pitch circle diameter) may vary. While the diameter of a typical wheel stud is about 12 to 14 mm, the distance between the center of the hub and each wheel stud may vary. Accordingly, wheels adapted to fit onto a hub must not only have openings that match the number of wheel studs or threaded holes, but also that match the specific configuration of the wheel studs, i.e., match the radius of the circle on which the wheel studs or threaded holes are arranged.
Because the openings on the wheel are sized to loosely fit over the wheel studs, a wheel designed to fit onto a hub with, for example, six wheel studs on a 5.5 inch (139.7 mm) diameter circle would not necessarily fit onto a hub with six wheel studs on a 5.315 inch (135 mm) diameter circle. As such, wheel blanks must be customized for each different hub configuration of wheel studs, which can lead to wasted inventory and/or delay.